‘Black Boys Code’ Aims to Change Face of Tech World

Workshops introduce black youth, boys to possibilities in sector.

Bryan Johnson, left, a coding workshop crew and Germain Tanoh, who talked to the boys about his path to becoming a mathematician.

Bryan Johnson is used to standing out for more than just his skills and work ethic.

Johnson, who spent 20 years working in technology at UPS and later Aeroplan, recalls a trip to the UPS head office in Atlanta, Georgia, where a third of the population identifies as black or African American.

“There was 14 regional managers and I was the only black person in the room.”

While Canadian statistics are scarce, just 11 per cent of U.S. computer science grads identified as black in 2013-14. Only one per cent of startup founders are black, Johnson adds.